Shadow box



R. E. FITCH SHADOW BOX Filed May 14, 1930 April 17, 1934.

Patented Apr. 17, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to shadow boxes of the type employed in school rooms and other places for controlling the lighting effect on objects comprising subjects being drawn or painted, and particularly to an improved shadow box which is capable of being collapsed or folded, the predominant object of the invention being to provide an extremely simple device of this type which is so constructed and arranged that it may be folded to a flat condition and stored away in very little space when not in use.

A shadow box is a three faced, rectangular structure which provides a niche in which subjects being drawn or painted are placed for controlling the lighting effect thereon, and prior to this invention these structures were rigidly constructed so that they were incapable of being folded or collapsed. The result of this situation was that the shadow boxes formerly used occupied considerable space when not in use, and while a number thereof could be nested in their rigid, upright condition, still a great amount of space was required for the shadow boxes even when so nested.

The main purpose of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a shadow box which is so constructed and arranged that it is capable of being folded and collapsed so that it will assume a substantially flat condition, whereby said shadow box may be stored away in a relatively limited space when not in use.

Fig. 1 is a perspective of my improved shadow box.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the shadow box illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective of the shadow box in a partially folded condition.

Fig. 4 is a perspective of the shadow box as same will appear when completely folded.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional detail of a lock forming a part of the structure.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the portion of the structure illustrated in Fig. 5.

In the drawing, wherein is shown for the purpose of illustration, merely, one embodiment of the invention, A designates the improved shadow box generally, said shadow box comprising a bottom wall 1, and a pair of walls 2 and 3 which extend upwardly from said bottom wall 1 and are arranged at an approximate right angle with respect to each other when the shadow box is in its upright condition. The walls 2 and 3 are hingedly secured to each other by means of hinges 4, and the bottom wall 1 is hingedly attached to the wall 3 by means of hinges 5. The bottom wall 1 is provided with a locking device which is adapted to secure said bottom wall to the wall 2 when the shadow box is in its upright condition, said locking device comprising a bar 6 which is secured to the bottom wall 1 at an edge thereof and having a portion 7 which extends beyond such edge of the bottom wall. The wall 2 is provided with an elongated opening 8 formed therethrough, through which the portion 7 of the bar 6 extends when the shadow box is in its upright condition, said wall 2 having a plate 9 secured to the outer face thereof at said elongated opening, which plate is provided with an opening of corresponding shape and proportions which registers with the opening formed through the wall 2. l0 designates a locking element which is pivotally attached to the bar 6 at the outer end thereof, said ivoted locking element being movable to the position illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 6, where its length is extended parallel with the length of the opening in the wall 2 so that it may be passed through said opening, and being shiftable to a position, as shown by full lines in Fig. 6, where its length is arranged transversely with respect to the length of the opening 8. The plate 9 is provided with inclined faces 11 at the ends of the elongated opening formed therethrough in contact with which the outer end portions of the pivoted locking element 10 move when said element is shifted from the position in which it is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6 to the position in which said element is shown by full lines in said view. This has the effect of drawing the wall 2 toward the bottom wall 1, so that close contact is obtained between said walls.

The hinges 5 by means of which the bottom wall 1 is hingedly secured to the wall 3 extends below the bottom face of said bottom wall, and therefore, if some means were not provided to prevent it, the horizontality of the bottom wall 1 of the shadow box would be destroyed, due to the fact that the downwardly extended hinges would cause the shadow box to be tilted on the object by which it is supported. I therefore secure a cleat 12 to the bottom face of the bottom wall 1 which is of such thickness that the lower face thereof is in the same horizontal plane as the lowermost surfaces of the hinges .5. The

hinges 5 and the cleat 12 are at opposite edges 1- of the bottom wall, and as the lower surfaces of the hinges and the bottom face of the cleat rest upon the object by which the shadow box is supported, the bottom wall of the shadow box is maintained in the proper horizontal plane.

When the shadow box is in a folded or collapsed condition, the wall 2 is folded forwardly against the front face of the wall 3, as suggested by Figs. 3 and 4. Also, the bottom wall 1 is folded rearwardly against the rear face of the wall 3, as shown in the views referred to. When the shadow box is folded as described, it will assume the flat condition in which it is shown in Fig. 4.

When it is desired to convert the shadow box from its folded to its upright condition, the walls 2 and 3 are moved to a position where they are arranged at an approximate right angle with respect to each other, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The bottom wall 1 is then swung on its hinges to the position in which it is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the lower outward corner portion of the wall 2 is sprung outwardly to permit of the portion 7 of the bar 6 being extended through the elongated opening 8 formed through said wall 2. At this time the pivoted element 10 will be arranged as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6, which permits said element to be passed through the elongated opening, and after it has been passed through the opening the pivoted element is shifted to the position in which it is shown by full lines in Fig. 6, thus drawing the walls 1 and 2 into close contact with each other and securely locking said walls together.

When my improved shadow box is in' its upright condition, it provides a very rigid structure which may be moved from place to place with objects located therein.

At times in the use thereof, my improved shadow box is arranged on its side so that the wall 3 becomes the bottom wall of the shadow box, and I therefore provide the lower face of said Wall 3 with a cleat 14 which cooperates with the hinges 5 to provide for the support of the shadow box in a perfectly horizontal position, as does the cleat 12 when the shadow box is upright.

I claim:

1. A shadow box formed of three walls only, including a pair of upright walls, hinge means for foldably connecting said walls together so that said upright walls may be moved to a position where the inner faces thereof are located adjacent to each other, a bottom Wall, hinge means for foldably connecting said bottom wall to one of the first-mentioned walls so that said bottom wall may be moved to a position Where its outer face is located adjacent to the outer face of the upright wall to which said bottom wall is attached.

2. A shadow box formed of three walls only, including a pair of upright walls, hinge means for foldably connecting said walls together so that said upright walls may be moved to positions where the inner faces thereof are located adjacent to each other, a bottom wall, hinge means for foldably connecting said bottom wall to one of the first-mentioned walls so that said bottom wall may be moved to a position where its outer face is located adjacent to the outer face of the upright wall to which said bottom wall is attached, and locking means for connecting said bottom wall to the other of said first-mentioned walls.

ROSE EVELYN FITCH. 

